They won't be as lethal as "The Dirty Dozen," the commandoes from the 1960s movie of that name, but Stanford's 12-man recruiting class might make up in feistiness what it lacks in numbers.

At least, that's how coach David Shaw sized up the group on Wednesday, national signing day.

"In looking at our list, you're going to see size, you're going to see toughness," he said. "You're going to see guys that play with the attitude that we have here. You're going to see guys, obviously, that are bright and intelligent."

Because Stanford had few graduating seniors or juniors leaving early for the NFL, there were only about half the usual number of scholarships available. That's why the recruiting services ranked the Cardinal very low. ESPN's ranking was the most favorable - 39th in the nation - but Stanford was listed 59th by Scout, 62nd by 247Sports and 63rd by Rivals.

On the other hand, based on average player rating, the class was rated 16th in the nation by one service and 17th by another.

As always, there were some big fish that got away, including Texas tight end Durham Smythe, who signed with Notre Dame, and Arizona wide receiver Devon Allen, who's headed to Oregon.

Shaw, however, voiced no regrets about his class, which he said includes "a lot of guys who will have a chance to contribute offensively or defensively early."

He said he told the incoming players, "We don't recruit guys to come in and redshirt. If that happens, fine. That means we have guys at the position who can play."

One who might see action as a freshman is Owusu, the 6-foot-3 brother of former Stanford wideout Chris Owusu, now with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

"Both are quick and explosive," Shaw said. "Chris isn't as tall as Francis, but you see a lot of similarities. Both were phenomenal on runs after catch." He said Francis, as a senior, "separated himself from just about anybody, in my opinion, on the West Coast."

Barton won't arrive until 2015 because he's going on a two-year LDS church mission in the small West African nation of Benin.

The principal position focus in Stanford's recruiting was on tight ends after juniors Zach Ertz and Levine Toilolo decided to turn pro. Shaw said Ryan Hewitt will remain at fullback unless there's "a dire need" to move him to tight end.

Wide receiver Devon Cajuste, at 6-3, 230, would need to add a lot more bulk to move into the tight end mix, he said. "He can be a mismatch guy as a (wide) receiver or slot receiver," he said.

That leaves a position that has been extremely important on the Farm in the hands of four players, none of whom has caught a single college pass. Besides the three newcomers, there's current freshman Luke Kaimatule.

"I love where Luke Kaimatule is right now," Shaw said. "He just under 6-8, 255 pounds, a great athlete."

While raving about all three incoming tight ends, in regard to Cotton, Shaw said, "I don't know that I saw a tight end in the nation that was as good a route runner. He's very similar to Zach Ertz coming out of high school."

Kalambayi could turn out to be the top player in the class. "He's similar to Chase Thomas in his range but bigger, coming out of high school," outside linebackers coach and admissions liaison Lance Anderson said.

Stanford signees

Pos

Name

School/Hometown

Ht.

Wt.

DB

Sean Barton*

Woods Cross/North Salt Lake, Utah

6-3

220

OL

Dave Bright

Mater Dei/Yorba Linda (Orange County)

6-5

290

QB

Ryan Burns

Stone Bridge/Leesburg, Va.

6-4

218

TE

Eric Cotton

Columbia/Nampa, Idaho

6-6

230

TE

Austin Hooper

De La Salle/Concord

6-4

233

LB

Peter Kalambayi

Butler/Matthews, N.C.

6-3

238

C

Thomas Oser

Harvard Westlake/Los Angeles

6-4

270

WR

Francis Owusu

Oaks Christian/Oxnard (Ventura County)

6-3

195

LB

Kevin Palma

Mission Oak/Pixley

6-1

225

TE

Greg Taboada

Marist School/Atlanta

6-5

235

WR

Taijuan Thomas

Ouachita Parish/Monroe, La.

5-9

178

DE

Mike Tyler

Brecksville-Broadview Heights/Brecksville, Ohio

6-5

225

* Barton will go on a Mormon church mission and arrive at Stanford in 2015.